We are often approached by clients who granted a Power of Attorney years earlier, to a relative, a business partner, or someone managing a property while they were abroad, and now want to cancel it, sometimes because the relationship has changed, sometimes because they simply want to manage the property themselves again. A common misconception is that telling the attorney-in-fact "I'm cancelling this" verbally, or even by an informal letter, is enough. It is not. Until a POA is properly revoked, third parties, including the Sub-Registrar, banks, and buyers, can continue to rely on it as valid.
Step 1: Draft a Deed of Revocation
The revocation must be executed as a formal deed, identifying the original Power of Attorney being revoked (its date, registration details, and the attorney-in-fact's name), stating the reason for revocation, and specifying the effective date. This deed should be prepared with the same care as the original POA, vague or incomplete revocation deeds create their own disputes.
Step 2: Execute It Properly
The principal (the person who granted the POA) must sign the deed of revocation in the presence of at least two witnesses. If the original POA was executed abroad, the revocation typically needs to follow the same attestation route, notarisation and apostille, or consular attestation, depending on the country.
Step 3: Register at the Same Sub-Registrar Office
If the original POA was registered, and for property-related POAs in Karnataka it generally should have been, the revocation deed must be registered at the same Sub-Registrar office. This is what makes the revocation legally traceable and binding against third parties who might otherwise search records and find only the original, unrevoked POA. See our earlier coverage of how POA verification works for how this shows up on the other side, when someone checks whether a POA presented to them is still valid.
Step 4: Notify the Attorney-in-Fact and Relevant Third Parties
The principal must formally deliver the executed revocation deed to the attorney-in-fact. Equally important, and often skipped, is notifying anyone who may have relied on the original POA, banks, the housing society, prospective buyers if a sale was in progress, or anyone who received a copy of the original document.
Step 5: Public Notice, as a Practical Safeguard
While not always a strict legal requirement, publishing a notice of revocation in one or two widely circulated newspapers is a strong practical safeguard, particularly where the attorney-in-fact had broad powers, including the power to sell. This creates a public record that reduces the risk of the revoked POA being used against an unsuspecting third party, and can matter significantly if a dispute over an unauthorised transaction arises later, an issue we discussed in our overview of POA risks in property transactions.
What Automatically Revokes a POA
Separate from a deliberate revocation, a POA is also automatically revoked by the death of the principal, or where the POA was coupled with specific conditions that have now lapsed. However, third parties dealing with the attorney-in-fact often have no way of knowing this has happened unless it is formally recorded, which is exactly why families managing an NRI relative's affairs should proactively register a revocation on death or incapacity, rather than assuming it happens automatically in the records.
Our Process
Drafting and registering a POA revocation typically takes 3-5 working days once the original POA details and identification documents are available. If you granted a POA and need it revoked, or need to check whether a POA presented to you is still valid, see our POA service or contact us.